Parliament of Victoria | Legislative Council | Questions Without Notice
9 September 2026
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
My question is for the Minister for Health. Last month the Victorian coroner released a report on a 33-year-old Geelong woman whose death was caused by a toxic combination of drugs, including heroin. There have been a hundred heroin-related deaths in Greater Geelong over the last decade, far more than any other regional local government area. In noting that the Greater Geelong area does not have a medically supervised injecting centre, the coroner stated:
“I have been unable to identify any public health grounds to justify limiting Victoria to one medically supervised injecting centre at a time.”
Given the amount of emergency legislation passed in this year alone in this chamber, what is preventing the government from urgently acting to establish a second MSIR in Geelong?
Ingrid STITT (Minister for Mental Health):
I thank Mr Ettershank for his question. I think it is actually in my mental health portfolio, but I am obviously very keen to answer the question. I do want to acknowledge that any overdose and life lost is a tragedy, and I want to extend my condolences to that individual’s family, loved ones and indeed community.
Of course we do know that drug harms are increasing, and our government has invested in a range of initiatives that are about trying to reduce that drug harm. Since coming to government we have, for example, doubled the number of residential rehabilitation beds and detox beds across the state, and we have also been working hard to implement our statewide action plan to reduce drug harm.
When we announced that plan, we made it very clear that the medically supervised injecting room at North Richmond is a very important part of our drug response as a state. That service will continue, and the government will continue to support its life-saving work.
But we did make it very clear that we would not be rolling out any additional medically supervised injecting rooms, and I note that the member will not agree with that position.
I do want to point out some of the other initiatives that we are taking in order to reduce lives lost to overdose, including, importantly, rolling out our naloxone vending machines across the state. We have rolled out that program in the Geelong area. We have also extended the take-home naloxone program so that naloxone is available far more widely across the state.
We are also of course proud of the fact that we have opened a fixed drug-testing site, which is being used by Victorians, many of whom have never really had a health-led conversation about their drug use, and that fixed site is an important part of our harm reduction strategy.
We are also in the process of setting up a Never Use Alone helpline, which will be something that users of drugs can call to have a peer support worker talk them through how to reduce the risks of taking drugs, particularly if they are alone. So there are a range of important initiatives that our government has pursued.
Of course I acknowledge that the illicit drug market and indeed those individuals who have tragically lost their lives through the misuse of prescription drugs are challenges that we have to keep continuing to meet, and that is why I pay very close attention to the work of the chief addiction officer, which is a position our government created in the department, and the AOD ministerial advisory committee in continuing to advise the government on these important issues.
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan Region):
Thank you, Minister. I appreciate that response. Maybe I will just pick up on some of the points you raised there. Following multiple coroners’ recommendations and sustained pressure from the progressive crossbench, Victoria now has, as you said, the fixed drug-checking site and pill testing at Victorian festivals.
The pill-testing trial at festivals has facilitated thousands of drug checks as well as thousands of harm reduction conversations with young people, and that is to be applauded.
The New South Wales government has announced that drug checking will become a permanent fixture at festivals in New South Wales following its proven effectiveness in reducing overall harm and particularly hospital presentations.
So I ask: will the government provide funding to enable a drug-checking service to have longer operating hours, which have been identified as a problem amongst users, initiate a mobile service and, following the New South Wales example, make drug checking a permanent feature at Victorian festivals?
Ingrid STITT (Minister for Mental Health):
Thank you for the supplementary question, Mr Ettershank. The good news is we already have indicated that pill testing is a permanent arrangement under a Carroll Labor government. I think we actually made that announcement before New South Wales – not that I am being competitive.
We are very proud of the fact that the successful trial of pill testing, both out at festivals and at the fixed site, has meant that we were very confident to confirm that this is going to be an ongoing service, and it is backed in by $9.6 million over two years in this year’s budget to support the vital work of the pill-testing service.
I also add that we have already, on occasions of peak demand, increased the hours of operation for the fixed site, and we will continue to look at ways in which we can maximise the number of festivals we attend over the summer period.
